The Doctor's Office

Cosmogyral

It started out like any typical day. The moment Steven woke up, he ate breakfast and got ready for whatever the others wanted him to do today. The hybrid couldn’t help but be exhausted, seeing as how he hadn’t slept too well the night before.

Just as he finished putting on his shoes, Greg walked into his house. The two spoke for a little bit and caught up on whatever they had done in the past week. It turns out that his dad decided against making the tour longer and wanted to spend more time with him. Steven smiled at this and thanked him, although it burned him inside to even think of his dad cancelling something he was so happy about. 

Next, the two invited Amethyst to join them and the three headed out. Greg explained to the two that Steven’s therapist had recommended having the components spend time apart to pick up new interests and learn new things. The fusion wasn’t happy about this, to say the least.

“Where are we going?” Steven asked his father. Amethyst, too, looked fairly clueless about what Greg was planning. The two exchanged glances when Greg began to laugh.

“You’ll see,” he responded, turning a corner. Steven barely recognized where they were, when suddenly everything came together. The surrounding area, the building itself, the familiarity of it all… where else would his dad take him to find new interests besides his storage unit?

After walking for a few more minutes, Greg turned around and raised his hands up dramatically, “Surprise!” Sure enough, they were at his storage unit now. Amethyst snickered as her close friend opened it up.

“Your storage unit, music man?” The purple gem teased, stepping into it once Greg had fully opened it. Steven stepped in front of it but didn’t go fully inside it, instead just staring into it from a distance.

Since when has this place been so clean? The hybrid was amazed to say the least. Everything was neatly organized and there was space to actually walk around in there. Surely his father couldn’t have done this, “Wow dad, this place looks amazing.”

“Thanks, Schtu-Ball! Pearl said it was too much of a mess and cleaned it,” He explained with a chuckle. That sounded exactly like something Pearl would do, causing the boy to not be surprised whatsoever, “Well, what are you doing standing there?”

“Come on, Steve-o!” Amethyst called to him, holding up some album cover that the hybrid didn’t recognize, “Unfuse and get in here! It’s so cool, especially these songs I’ve never heard of!” She laughed and turned back to the collection of stacked albums his father had collected over the years.

Steven reluctantly stepped into the unit. He shivered and awkwardly crossed his arms, pretending to look around at stuff. Everything here was something he grew up being around, and by the looks of it there was nothing new. He let out a soft sigh, closing his eyes and standing still.

When he opened them again, he was still fused. Amethyst stepped forward to him, “Are you okay? Why didn’t you unfuse?” The concern in her voice was strong. Steven shrugged his shoulders.

“I don’t think they want to split,” He revealed, averting his gaze to the floor, “Sometimes they want to, but other times they’re able to stay strong and fight against it.” He saw his gem glowing then and pulled up his shirt.

Greg stepped forward, eyes wide and worry etched onto his features, “Are you feeling okay Steven? Your gem glows a lot but it rarely shines that bright.” Everyone in the room seemed to be just as puzzled as Steven was.

Steven pulled his shirt down and clutched the gem on his navel, “I don’t think they like it here, dad. Neither of them seem to be very fond of it, actually. Too many memories.”